Migration Matters Festival is cultural festival celebrating Sheffield as a city of sanctuary, diverse cultures and migration in Sheffield. It hosts about 60 events each year providing platforms to underrepresented communities particularly people with lived experience of displacement, seeking asylum and forced migration. This year the Festival starts on Friday 14th June and runs for nine days until 22nd of June.
A number of Migration Research Group members and friends from the University of Sheffield present their research through creative means, art or in workshops. Below is our MRG guide.
Anti-Racist Archive - Exploring 'Home'
The Anti-Racist Archive enables racially marginalised communities to creatively document ideas about important social issues. From October 2023 to June 2024 we have been focusing on the theme of "home". How do we define home? What is the experience of losing home for displaced and diasporic communities? How do we create home in hostile and oppressive spaces?
Time: 20 June (Thursday), 6 pm | Venue: Soft Ground, 37 The Moor
A mixed-media art installation exploring ‘social frontiers’ - sharp differences in the demographics of neighbouring communities. Through visual art, sound, documentary and augmented reality this installation looks at how these social frontiers affect life in Rotherham, reflecting on complex issues like migration, integration and life in cities.
Time: 15 - 22 June, opening Q&A: 17 June (Monday), 6 - 7:30 pm | Venue: Soft Ground, 37 The Moor
Borders of Childhood - exhibitionBorders of Childhood - talk
An exhibition of drawings by Venezuelan child migrants who were represented and supported by the Brazilian Federal Public Defenders team between 2016 and 2020. The drawings explore the children’ experiences of forced migration and the asylum system. The drawings have been previously exhibited at the Brazilian Congress and the headquarters of the United Nations. The exhibition is accompanied by a talk The importance of considering child migration.
Exhibition: 15 - 22 June, 11 am - 4 pm | Venue: Soft Ground, 37 The Moor
Talk: 18 June (Tuesday), 4 pm | Venue: The Diamond, University of Sheffield
In my Own Words and Pictures
An exhibition of 'visual poems' created by Czech and Slovak Roma women living in South Yorkshire. The visual poems use words, drawings and other materials to explore these women's perspectives on life, health and illness.
Time: 15 - 22 June, celebration event: 19 June (Wednesday), 12:30-1:30 pm | Venue: Soft Ground, 37 The Moor
Routes to belonging in higher education
Join Dr Rebecca Murray and colleagues from the migration, education and charity sectors at this panel discussion on ‘sanctuary’ in higher education. The panel will explore sanctuary initiatives from multiple perspectives, and look at how the hospitality provided by universities in our region can continue in the UK’s increasingly ‘hostile environment’.
Time: 18 June (Tuesday), 6 pm | Venue: Adelphi Room (Crucible Theatre)
Traditional Tales, Untraditionally Told
A family workshop exploring how traditional tales and home languages are woven into our identities. Attendees will take part in a multilingual storytelling session where everyone will be encouraged to bring their own languages to the story. Families/groups will then have an opportunity to come up with their own stories and create animations using the OctoStudio app.
Time: 15 June (Saturday) 12 - 4 pm | Venue: Victoria Hall, Norfolk Street